multifamily

adjective

mul·​ti·​fam·​i·​ly ˌməl-tē-ˈfam-lē 

-ˌtī-, 

-ˈfa-mə-lē

: involving or common to more than one family

a multifamily home

In contrast to single-family housing, where residents typically pay directly based on the amount of water used, there are several models for billing multifamily residents …

—Elizabeth A. Wentz et al.

Examples of multifamily in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The average size of a single-family house built in the 1960s was about 1,500 square feet, and homes within multifamily units were about 800 square feet. —Allison Schrager, Boston Herald, 31 May 2026

And as developers continue to build multifamily projects, rents may continue to drop. —Catherine Odom, Miami Herald, 29 May 2026

Fire safety regulations have long required multifamily buildings to contain two or more staircases so that residents can exit their homes safely if one staircase is impassable because of smoke or other reasons. —Alex Schwartz, The Conversation, 29 May 2026

Nationally, 474,000 multifamily permits were filed outside of California. —Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 29 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1903, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for multifamily

• family
• nonfamily
• stepfamily
• subfamily